Filtering by Category: Silver Birch

Whole School Home Learning - Christmas Castle Design

Added on by Silver Birch.

Continuing with our Castle theme at Neston, all children are invited to take part in this year’s Hunter French Design a Christmas Castle competition.  There will be a superb first prize for the winning Christmas Castle design and all runners up will receive a book token for Corsham Book Shop.

The winner and runners’ up designs (1 winner and 17 runners up) will be transferred onto top quality duratrans paper and will be displayed for a two week period in the Hunter French Estate Agents windows in Corsham over Christmas.  The special duratrans paper means that the children’s designs will be back-lit and will be visible night and day!

All designs need to:

-          Be on white A3 paper ONLY (please use the paper provided with paper copy of this letter)

-          Ideally have the child’s first name and age showing clearly on the front of the paper (this will be displayed)

-          Have the child’s full name and class on the back of the paper - so we know who to give the prizes to (this will not be displayed)

-          Use bright and bold colours in your designs – these will stand out and look better lit up

-          We are looking to see the children’s wonderful work – Hunter French do all the judging and they have specifically requested that parents stay hands-off on the final design!

All Christmas Castle designs need to be handed in by Thursday 5th December.  You can bring along your home learning to the Bacon and Book Swap on 5th December or put it in the box in the glazed link before that.

Good luck!

£600 of new books bought for the library

Added on by Silver Birch.

Thank you to everyone who bought a book at our recent Book Fair - I hope the children are all enjoying their books.  Please do encourage them to come and tell me about the books they are reading anytime in school - I could talk about books all day!

I had great pleasure yesterday ordering £500 worth of new books for the library yesterday and putting a further £100 worth of new books out on the shelves.  These books were all bought with the commission we earned on sales at the book fair.   We have purchased a range of books for the school across all age groups, reading abilities and interests.  Hopefully the books should be with us before Christmas and I will let you know when they arrive.  Very exciting...

Don't forget to put 5th December in your diaries for Bacon and Book Swap.  A letter with a reply slip will be coming your way nearer the time.

Happy Reading

Mrs Sheila Stansfield

We have built our reading turret!

Added on by Silver Birch.

Well done to Silver Birch! You have put in an amazing effort with your reading at home and you have filled all the bricks on our turret. The turret will go up in the cloakroom so everyone will be able to see your excellent effort. You can be very proud.

We will start a Viking related reading challenge next. So, don't forget to bring your reading records in for review every Wednesday.

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Reading records now in on Wednesdays

Added on by Silver Birch.

Silver Birch have been doing some fabulous reading at home (see an earlier notice with a picture of our turret!)  Please could the children bring in their reading records for review on a Wednesday morning for the rest of the term.  The records will be reviewed and returned to the children on Thursday morning. 

We love celebrating our reading in Silver Birch and we are starting to share with each other what we are reading at the moment and what we are enjoying about the books we are reading.  We will be celebrating our reading for pleasure every Thursday morning before we go swimming.

At the moment Mrs Stansfield is reading the Percy Jackson series of books.  She is on to the fifth and last book in the series: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.  It is very exciting and a great adventure. 

Mr Brown has been reading all about Vikings!  He has a very good Dorling Kindersley book at home which has fascinating facts about Vikings in it.

Happy reading!

Bacon and Book Swap - Thursday 5th December

Added on by Silver Birch.

After the phenomenal success of our Books and Bacon event last month we are already planning our next book-related breakfast.  On Thursday 5th December from 8am to 9am we will be hosting a Bacon and Book Swap.

Children are invited to bring along a grown-up and a book (or books) you have enjoyed but would like to swap for a different one.  Then you can enjoy browsing and reading whilst have a delicious bacon sandwich - once more cooked for by Mr Howe and the team!  (We will have more frying pans this time...)

Look out for more details coming soon.

Mrs Sheila Stansfield

TA & Library Co-ordinator

 

Children In Need

Added on by Chestnut.

To raise money for Children in Need on the 15th November we will be doing the following things:

  • Children dressing up as teachers - 20p
  • Cake sale - cakes cost 20p
  • Colouring competition - design a uniform for Pudsey which will cost 20p (we are collecting entries in the glazed link - no entries later than Wednesday please)
  • Collecting copper coins for extra donations

Thank you

Tia & Zoe, on behalf of the School Council

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Castle Day 24 October

Added on by Silver Birch.

In 1066, before they set off to invade England, the Normans enjoyed a French breakfast of pain-au-chocolat, croissant and chocolat chaud.  Served by Monsieur Brown, Madame Stansfield and Madame Jones.

But every good Norman needs a sword to go into battle with.  So off they went to the sword smiths to make their own, personalised weapons.

But only the knights had swords.  The commoners fought with spears.

The Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies were trained and disciplined.  They had to learn how to march to march in formation; turn a half or quarter right; raise arms and present arms.

At the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon army had the advantage because they were on the hill.  However, the Normans cleverly pretended they were retreating and the Anglo-Saxons broke formation and left their position on the hill.  The Normans encircled the Anglo-Saxon army.  King Harold was shot in the eye and William the Conqueror became King of England. 

Holidays in Term Time

Added on by Betsy Huggins.

Dear Parents

I am writing to inform you of the Government’s intention to change procedures surrounding holidays taken in term time.

Previously, as Headteacher, I have been permitted to authorise up to ten days leave of absence for “Special Circumstances”.  With effect from September 2013, amendments to the 2006 regulations have come into force.  The amendments make it clear that, as Headteacher, I may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are “exceptional circumstances”.  If this is the case, I should determine the number of school days your child can be away from school.

If a parent were to choose to ignore these regulations then there would be a Penalty Notice issued; the timescale for paying will be £60.00 within 21 days or £120.00 within 28 days. Please be aware that Penalty Notices are issued to each parent/carer for each child.

In the past we have been able to manage the process effectively; the diverse needs of our families have been valued and parents/carers have respected decisions made. My plan is for us to continue to work in partnership, taking account of the new regulations and following the “exceptional circumstances only” criteria.  We have adjusted our Leave of Absence Request Form accordingly. 

This letter and the revised request form are available from the school office and can be found on our school website, along with additional information from Wiltshire Local Authority plus links to the Department for Education website .

Yours sincerely,

Pam Evans

Head Teacher

 

Violin Taster

Added on by Chestnut.

Today, Silver Birch enjoyed a visit from Mrs Tunney the violin teacher.

We all had a go at playing the violin and danced along to an upbeat folk jig.

Lots of Silver Birch class expressed an interest in learning the violin.  Mrs Tunney explained she could teach single or group lessons for children – just ask at reception for details.

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Neston Reading Festival

Added on by Betsy Huggins.

I am delighted to announce the launch of Neston's very own Reading Festival. We are running this in conjunction with Booktrust's National Children's Book Week and the Travelling Book Fair and we are hoping our Festival will be an exciting celebration of reading for pleasure.

Neston Reading Festival will launch on Thursday 10th October with a Welcome Event for Willow & Oak Class children and their parents at 3.30pm in the hall. This event will include a treasure hunt in the grounds, storytelling with our very own Barefoot Storyteller and hot chocolate and cookies. This fun event is organised by FONS (Friends of Neston School). 

On Friday 11th October there will be a book-related whole school learning. More to follow! Also look out for information about Booktrust's 100 Best Books www.booktrust.org.uk/cbw - a chance to vote for your favourite book and win a complete pack of 100 books!  

Our festival will continue on Monday as the Barefoot Storyteller hosts an intriguing storytelling assembly for the children ... look out for the lead character ... will you recognise the damsel in distress and who will save her? 

On Wednesday 16th October our Book Fair will open after school in the hall. There will be lots of great books to buy at affordable prices. The Book Fair also helps raise funds for us to buy lots more books for school.

The Book Fair will be open at 8.30am every morning and straight after school until Tuesday 22"d October. be open at 8.30am every morning and straight after school until Tuesday 22"d October. 

Also, on Friday 18th October we are asking all children (and staff) to "Spend a Day in a Book Character's Shoes". There will be more information about this with the whole school home learning.

Happy Reading! Mrs Pam Evans I Mrs Sheila Stansfield